doughty
valiant; brave: now used humorously with a somewhat archaic flavor
Rising toward 5 in the morning, when the desert stars are just starting
to pale, the doughtier visitors make their way back up to the hermitage
to watch the dawn.
epitome
the ideal expression of something; the perfect representation of a
whole class
Escoffier thought strawberries a sufficiently royal delicacy to name
a dessert he invented-strawberries macerated in orange juice and curacao,
served in a crystal bowl with creme chantilly-after the Russian royal
family, the Romanovs. In England, brimming bowls of strawberries during
the Wimbledon tennis matches still epitomize the summer social season.
fecund
fertile; fruitful; prolific
Just what is it about Shakespeare's work that accounts for his enduring
ability to engage the popular imagination, his accessibility to so many
eras and cultures? The usual reasons offered for his greatness-the richness
of his language, the range and depth of his characterizations,  the
fecundity of his imagination-do not explain why he, rather than, say,
Dante or Chaucer, has become and remained a household name. Nor do paeans
to his storytelling gifts: after all, he lifted most of his plots from
pre-existing works.
joie de vivre
delight at being alive; enjoyment of life: French, joy of living
 It
was 1953, and Paris was inexpensive and romantic, and it was possible
then, as it had been possible in Hemingway's time, to make writing not
only a vocation but an entire way of life. And so a group of young Americans
went to Paris, where they wrote and drank and played tennis and sat up
all night at cafes, and where they started a little magazine that ran
on talent and enthusiasm and youthful joie de vivre.
Words That
Make a Difference from Levenger Press, © 2000
Robert Greenman. Passages from The New York Times are reprinted
with permission from The New York Times Company.
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Test
your masterly way with words
In addition to citing
passages from The New York Times to show the masterly use
of language, author Robert Greenman offers many linguistic sidelights
in Words That Make a Difference— etymology, history,
even a recipe or two—that feed words lovers' appetite for language
all the more. We've turned three of these sidelights into a quiz
for you.
QUESTIONS
1. When is an umpire
a numpire? When the language incorrectly separates an
article (a) from a noun (numpire). These three words
have also been wronged in this way. What do we know them as, as
a result?
2. What American leader invented
the word belittle?
3. Who coined these words:
apostrophe, educate, accommodation, laughable, monumental?
Bonus question: What did the (incorrect) word nickname start
off as?
Answers:
1. A nadder is
an adder; an ewt is a newt; a napron
is an apron.
2. Thomas Jefferson, in 1780.
It was belittled by the English when it first came into use.
3. Shakespeare, who
also gave us premeditated, eventful, hot-blooded and
impartial. In terms of words we still use, the Bard contributed
more to the language than did any other writer.
Bonus question: Nickname started off
as an eke name, meaning 'an also name.'
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